Today’s poetry news summary takes a look at the social media sensation who will shortly be a published poet and the Derry poet whose work bears striking similarities to that of Robert Burns.
Social Media Sensation has Poetry Collection Scooped
Havva Ramadan the “social media sensation” has had her poetry collection “A Voice: Turning Pain into Power” scooped up by the publishing company Black & White. The company have acquired the world rights direct from the author and are planning to publish the collection on 26th September 2024.
The collection, which Ramadan began writing during lockdown is what she describes as her most “beloved” work and it is all previously unpublished although she has been sharing both her poetry and her spoken word with her followers on social media. It is inspired by much of her early life. In her own words, she talks about loss, grief and heartbreak.
She had sent the book to a number of publishers but hadn’t been holding out much hope of receiving a reply until one day Black & White responded. This is her first published work, and she is excited to be sharing it. The publishers are hoping the collection will be a comfort to those who have been through similar experiences to the poet and that her poetry will resonate with her audience.
Parallels Drawn Between Work of Derry Poet and Robert Burns
Critical analysis has shown that the are some striking similarities between “A Day’s Pullin” by Wilson Burgess, a poet from Derry and works by Robert Burns.
The work by the poet from Derry was recently put through critical analysis via AI after it was sent to London to be critiqued. There were significant similarities detected between the poem and those of Scottish poet Robert Burns. The analysis was done using ChatGPT.
Born in Aghadowey, Burgess has long been a promoter and advocate for the use and the Ulster Scots language and also its culture in poetry and the written form. He now lives in Derry and is a winner of a number of awards for his poetry including the Frances Browne International Poetry Competition. Some of his work also appears on the recommended reading list for the Queen’s University Ulster Scots Poetry course
“A Day’s Pullin” tells the story of a day in the life of a flax puller, looking in particular at both the physical and emotional toll of the labour. It is the focus that both Burgess and Burns made on the rural life, together with the use of regional dialects that ChatGPT picked up on in the poems. The poem which was seen to most resemble Burgess’ poem was “To a Mouse.”
The history of the Ulster Scots language and the similarities that can be found there mean that this discovery is perhaps not that surprising. The Scottish language during the period when Burns was writing his poetry is surprisingly similar to Ulster Scots.
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